Lunatic Mode Guide (Revision 4335)

The Lunatic Mode Guide is intended to help you survive Fire Emblem Awakening's (second) hardest mode. These tips also apply to Lunatic+ mode, which is what you unlock when you beat the game on Lunatic. Lunatic+ mode requires the same strategies, with a bit more luck due to a higher number of enemy criticals.

Early Game Tips

The first 5 Chapters of Fire Emblem Awakening on Lunatic are the hardest. After Chapter 4 you can recruit Bonus Teams in the Wireless menu and grind on the DLC maps. But before that, you'll need to almost exclusively use Frederick. Your other characters should remain out of reach of enemy attacks (press X to see enemy attack zones) - but keep them nearby and at the ready in case My Unit or Chrom can step in and finish off an enemy.

Give Frederick Your Stuff

Frederick starts with a Silver Spear. Pass him My Unit's Bronze Sword so he can conserve his Silver Spear for important enemies. This will also allow him to be at a greater advantage when facing enemies with Axes (refer to the Weapon Triangle below).

Similarly, Virion starts with an Elixir (which has three uses). Move Virion beside Frederick and trade him the Elixir right away - Freddie's going to need it to survive Chapter 2. Just make sure to pair up Virion with someone once you're through so he's out of harm's way.

Bonus tip: Don't neglect the sparkly regions on the map, you can sometimes pick up better Weapons and Items here.

Obey the Weapon Triangle

You can check any enemy's equipped weapons by scrolling over them with the cursor. Use this information to choose your weapons wisely -- not only on the attack but on the defense.

Use Frederick as a Shield and a Distraction

Depending on where you place Frederick, enemies will follow him away from other characters. You can use this to your advantage to maintain a "safe" area outside the enemy attack range for weaker and more vulnerable units. If you place Frederick correctly, he can even create a bottleneck in certain maps that allows the other units to sneak closer without being in danger of being hit.

USING MYUNIT

Initially, My Unit will be rather weak and at risk of being oneshotted by many of the enemies on the map. You absolutely should not ignore My Unit, though. Having the Veteran skill means that s/he will gain experience at an extraordinaire rate, so long as you put forth an effort to feed him/her kills. Just make sure to keep My Unit paired up for the Veteran bonus and the needed boost to stats. It is very likely that a slightly fed MU will be well above level 10 by the time you finish Chapter 4, and is a very worthy candidate for that Second Seal you get as an early renown award.

Everybody knows that Donnel has the potential to be one of the strongest members of your army, but getting him to both survive and gain the required level up in his recruitment mission on Lunatic can be a challenge. Thankfully the mission provides the means to accomplish it. There is an archer in the top left corner of the map, near the chests. If you pair Donnel to a mounted unit (preferably Frederick), you can move from one hex outside of the archer's range to right in front of him in a single move. This will pin the archer in the corner, thus it won't be able to shoot you. Donnel can then poke him at his leisure. Consider unpairing Frederick from Donnel before you start attacking, as Donny gets quite a lot of experience for every attack he does. A dozen weak attacks is worth a lot more than a single attack followed by a support attack. You can even do this trick with some of the other archers on the map, but it will probably require two or three other characters to pin the archer. This is pretty handy, as Donnel needs quite a few levels before he becomes viable on Lunatic.

Late Game Tips

SAFE HOUSES ARE YOUR FRIEND

In some maps you'll find certain "safe house" areas where you can rest one of your units to have them recover 10 HP every turn. In Lunatic mode, these spaces are invaluable. Make it a point to camp good ole Frederick on one of these spots whenever possible, as it will often allow him to keep attacking and taking hits without having to use up all of his health items. You'll eventually have to leave these safe areas to go after archers and magic users, who can attack from a distance, but you can generally afford to take out the close-range units first and just pick up the leftovers when you're done.

In later levels, these areas also randomly regenerate enemies, so whenever possible try to camp one of your weaker units on these spots to prevent more enemies from showing up. It may be a pain to sacrifice a unit like this, but it could help prevent the scales from tipping in the opposition's favor when your team's health is widdling away and the bad guys are getting three or four new units each turn.

FIGHT OR FLIGHT

As a rule of thumb (during the entire game, but especially early on before you can grind on DLC), don't be afraid to keep your weaker units out of harm's way, and remember to strategically pair your guys together for added strength. The important thing here is to get your team out alive - and sometimes that means hiding in a corner if the enemies are all too powerful for your units to handle. There's no shame in this - and hey, you can make up for it by kicking butt when your team is all leveled up and balanced out later in the game.

EQUIPMENT IS YOUR LIFEBlOOD

Under no circumstances should you venture into a new chapter without first doing an inventory check. If you bought Golden Gaffe, money should be no problem - but even if you're doing this without DLC, keeping your weapons and items in top form is beyond pivotal. Make sure your weapons aren't worn down so they don't break in the middle of a battle and leave your unit vulnerable, and make sure every member of your team has plenty of health items (whatever the strongest one you're able to buy is). Use whatever cash you have left to forge your items to the max - make sure their hit ratio is at least 85 and get those other stats up as high as possible.

And while it's tempting to only use a lance when attacking with Frederick or only use magic when attacking with your My Unit, this will cost you in the long run. Build up weapon proficiency for all of each unit's usable weapons, and keep them equipped with a nice, broad arsenal. One hit kills are crucial in Lunatic mode, as is the weapon triangle, so doing this will give you a greater chance of having the right weapon on hand to take an enemy out (or protect yourself from a deadly attack).

DON't UNDERESTIMATE YOUR HEALER

Lissa and Maribelle aren't only useful for healing. Once you've gotten them to Level 10, you can use a Master Seal to promote them to an advanced class. While you may feel like upgrading a healer is a waste of a Master Seal, remember that once upgraded these gals can both heal and attack, making them a lot less useless on the battlefield (and able to protect themselves more - meaning they can get in closer and heal units more effectively without being an easy kill).

The DLC YOU NEED

It's very possible to make it through Lunatic mode without spending a penny (especially with the Bonus Teams to grind on) - but in all honestly, spending just $5 will make your Lunatic life A LOT easier. The Golden Gaffe and EXPonential Growth packs are just $2.50 each, but they're worth far more than their weight in gold.

Golden Gaffe lets players earn tons of gold without putting their units in danger. When you first get there (again, Outrealm Gate - where you purchase DLC - opens up after Chapter 4), you probably won't earn terribly much gold per turn, but you'll still get enough to replace your weapons and buy some health items. But once you've leveled up a bit, which will happen fairly quickly if you keep grinding here, you can eventually earn more than $40,000 in gold with each playthrough. The enemies don't attack you either, so as long as you're careful not to go for enemies that will kill your unit with the counter attack, it's clear sailing to great wealth.

EXPonential Growth is similarly useful. While it won't earn you any gold (meaning you'll need to be mindful about wearing out your equipment here if you haven't built up your nest egg with Golden Gaffe), you earn a ridiculous amount of experience for killing off each enemy - usually enough to go up an entire level.

Together, these two DLC maps will help you balance out your time and get enough gold to buy new weapons and forge them to perfection.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

Be prepared to die in Lunatic mode. A lot. After all, it wouldn't be half as satisfying (and probably wouldn't be called Lunatic mode) if it were a breeze. Learn from your mistakes and don't be afraid to restart as often as you need to in order to get it right.

Also, remember you can press L, R and Select to perform a quick restart of the game. This is especially helpful if you're doing a no-death Lunatic run in Classic mode.